


Grandma McGonagall

by Baozhale



Series: Simbi Prompts [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:30:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8800891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baozhale/pseuds/Baozhale
Summary: Professor McGonagall wonders what happened to the child she didn't keep, and then she finds out she knows her granddaughter, who is also in for a bit of a shock.





	1. Discovery

Minerva McGonagall didn't regret her time with Dougal McGregor. She had been young and in love. Now and then, though, she wished alternately that she had not hidden her pregnancy and kept the child (this regret was easy enough to put away, as even the wizarding world had not taken well to women who had children without the father in the picture at the time), somehow arranged to keep the child (a bit harder – a single witch “adopting an orphaned nephew” would have been accepted, even thought well of in some ways, but could not have made a good place for a Squib), or even kept track of where her child went (there was no silencing this wish, only waiting it out.) Somehow certain that her son was _not_ a wizard, she had posed as Daniel's aunt and told a Muggle orphanage that his mother passed in childbirth. She would (and did) pay to ensure his needs were met, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard he had been adopted by a Muggle family who couldn't have children of their own. Mrs. Lila Granger, the woman's name was. Minerva McGonagall, still posing as Daniel's aunt, met the woman, approved of her, and vanished after putting money for her son's tuition and board in trust. She tried not to think too much about the child she had given up, just as she tried not to think too often of the letters from Dougal McGregor locked under her bed.

 

When Hermione Granger arrived at Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor, Professor Minerva McGonagall was briefly reminded of Mrs. Lila Granger. She looked nothing like Lila had (of course she wouldn't) but she shared the name. She didn't suppose the name was _so_ unusual, and thought little of it, beyond missing both Daniel and Dougal, and now Elphinstone too.

 

When Hermione Granger admitted that the Sorting Hat _had_ seriously considered putting her into Ravenclaw, Professor Minerva McGonagall wondered a bit more. She had, after all, been a Hatstall between the same two Houses, eventually sorting Gryffindor, and Hermione was among the closest to Hatstall of her generation. The same two Houses, a similar long period of decision (for a hat that frequently decided in seconds, over a minute's difference in sorting time was always significant, but taking several minutes was more so.) And there was that name. Granger. Lila Granger had adopted her son Daniel, and she supposed he might have taken his new parents names. But Voldemort was on the rise again, and there were more urgent considerations than whether or not Hermione's name was a coincidence.

 

Then the War was over. Hogwarts was a mess. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were offered at the Ministry, but given the war, the Ministry said it would permit students to delay their exams, or even to spend an extra year and retake them. Most students who had escaped the battle uninjured or recovered sufficiently at least _attempted_ the exams. About half chose to repeat the year and take advantage of the option to retake the exams, this one time that there would be no stigma or paperwork attached to doing so. Quite a few fourth and sixth years asked to repeat _their_ years, feeling less than prepared to enter their O.W.L. year or N.E.W.T. year. Muggle-borns wanted to return (or didn't) and had to be tracked down to make their decision either way. Most came back when they were told how the remaining professors had _fought_ , had risked their _lives_ , to make Hogwarts a place that they _could_ come back to. They joined the year they would have been in the year they could not attend. Hermione returned (of course she did.) Harry took advantage of the offer that anyone who survived the Battle of Hogwarts could begin Auror training with or without the usually required N.E.W.T.s (he always seemed to be sacrificing himself for the good of others, but Minerva remembered how he had taken to teaching. She thought he might return to Hogwarts, eventually.)

 

_After_ the war, and _after_ helping as many students and former students put their lives back together as she could, and _after_ dealing with the oddly-sized years at Hogwarts, there was finally time to look into little coincidences and wonder about the past. Hermione's year back at Hogwarts was past, and she was working at the Ministry. So she searched Muggle records for Lila Grangers with children named Daniel. Then she eliminated the Daniel's who were definitely something _other_ than a dentist. (Most didn't have occupations that she knew how to find.) Then she checked which Daniel Granger's had children. There _was_ a Hermione on the list. If Muggle records were to be trusted (and that was quite the “if”, and if there weren't too many Hermione Grangers (she had no idea how common either name was among Muggles), then the young woman was quite likely to be her granddaughter after all.

 

The next time she saw Hermione in London over a summer break, Minerva invited her for tea. The conversation waxed academic for a time, as it always did. Hermione was _extremely_ clever. Minerva could understand why the Hat had taken so long to decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. “And how are your parents? Your father, what was his name again?”

 

“Daniel? They're doing well. They took a while to adjust to not being the Wilkins', I didn't take their memories of that time when I gave them back the memories of being Granger's and of, well, my existing. But their dentistry is going well enough, and we're planning to go on holiday later this month.”

 

Daniel. Hermione's father's name was Daniel Granger. Daniel wasn't an uncommon name, and she supposed Granger probably wasn't either, but still. “This is going to sound odd, but was your father by any chance adopted?”

 

Hermione looked at her. “Y-yes. Are you all right, Professor?”

 

Minerva blinked. “I am quite all right. Just … realizing something.” _That you are probably my granddaughter. It probably wasn't a coincidence that your name is Granger or that you were very nearly a Hatstall between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw_. “I'm not quite sure how to put this.” She paused and took a breath. “The summer after I graduated from Hogwarts, I was … involved with a Muggle boy. I hid the pregnancy and put the child in a Muggle orphanage. His name was Daniel. He was adopted by a Lila Granger. It's a bit much of a coincidence, but it's entirely possible–”

 

“That you're my grandmother?” Hermione said. “Is that what you're saying?”

 

“Most likely.”

 

Conversation sort of … stopped, after that. Minerva expected that Hermione would need time to process the revelation that she (probably) had a wizarding grandmother. _She_ needed time to process the reality that she had a (probably) had a granddaughter!

 


	2. Response

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione reacts to the discovery that she has a witch for a grandmother. A former Head of House, to be precise (and she always is!)

_I have another grandmother_. The mere fact that Hermione Granger had another grandmother was not especially newsworthy. She understood how adoption worked, and she knew the story of her fathers adoption. His parents, Lila and David Granger, had been unable to conceive. Lila had arranged to adopt, with her husband's agreement, and brought Daniel home. They had met with his aunt ( _maybe not his aunt, maybe not-yet-Professor McGonagall_ ) once. She had put funds for his schooling in trust, then vanished. They had no idea what became of the woman ( _Except that the woman might have been Hermione's Head of House_ ) but they used the money for its intended purpose, and Daniel had become a dentist. Since children didn't appear from nowhere, Hermione knew that she had, at some point, had another, biological grandmother. Since her father had been in an orphanage, Hermione had also assumed that the woman was long dead, to the extent she had thought about the matter at all.

_Does that mean my scar isn't technically accurate?_ Bellatrix Lestrange had cut the word _Mudblood_ into her in the Malfor Manor, and the scar hadn't faded. “Mudblood, and proud of it!” she told Griphook, not long after. But was she, really? Close enough, in any case. Her father wasn't a wizard ( _How had McGonagall known so quickly?_ ) so did that make him a Muggle or a Squib, with a Muggle father? Did it matter? Neither of her parents were magical, in any case. If she wasn't technically quite a Mudblood, she was close enough. The sort to throw the slur around wouldn't care about such details, so maybe she didn't need to either. Mudblood, and proud of it.

 

She called her father. “Did you ever wonder about your birth mother?” she asked.

“I think most adopted children do, at some point,” he said. “It's been years since I thought about it, though.”

“Would you want to meet her, if you had the option?”

“Is this theoretical?”

“No. My former Head of House thinks I'm her granddaughter through the son that was adopted by Muggles. She told me over tea during my lunch break today.”

Silence. Then. “Let me call my parents, and I'll call you back, sweetie.”

“Go ahead. And, I'm sorry?”

“No need to be sorry. I'm sure you're in shock. Love you!” Click.

 

She owled. Professor McGonagall.

 

> Dear Professor (Grandma?)
> 
> Please excuse my not being quite sure how to address the letter at this point. If you had the opportunity to meet your (probable) son, would you want to?
> 
> Hermione Granger

 

Her father called back. “Could my parents come too? They'd be more likely to know if this is the same woman who handed me over to them years ago. I was too small to remember.”

“I can ask.”

Professor McGonagall owled back.

>  
> 
> Dear Ms. Granger (Hermione?)
> 
> The confusion is perfectly understandable, I would say. I am experiencing the same. I would love to meet my son. Can you arrange this?
> 
> Minerva

 

And Hermione owled again.

 

> Dear Professor (Minerva?)
> 
> My father says he's interested, and that he'd like to bring his parents along. I think a place in Muggle London makes the most sense, considering. (My grandparents do know I'm a witch.)
> 
> Hermione

 

Several owls and phone calls later, a date was arranged. A week from Saturday, they would all meet for brunch at a little deli near Lila and David's temple. Ron would be coming with her. His initial humorous responses might well help with the tensions that had to emerge in a family reunion. And he said he would _try_ to be tactful in the moment in addition to keeping his heart in the right place. (She kissed him and said she understood that the first was quite a bit harder for him than the second, but she appreciated the effort.)

 


End file.
